斑点带子案 40提前准备(4)

About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor¹ House.

大约九点钟的时候，树丛中透过来的灯光熄灭了，庄园邸宅那边一片漆黑。

Two hours passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of eleven,

两个小时缓慢地过去了，突然刚好时钟在打十一点的时候，

a single bright light shone out right in front of us.

我们的正前方出现了一盏孤灯，照射出明亮的灯火。

"That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it comes from the middle window."

"那是我们的信号，"福尔摩斯跳了起来说，"是从当中那个房间照出来的。"

As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord,

我们向外走的时候，他和旅店老板交谈了几句话，

explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance,

解释说我们要连夜去访问一个熟友，

and that it was possible that we might spend the night there.

可能会在那里过夜。

A moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces,

一会儿，我们就来到了漆黑的路上，凉飕飕的冷风吹在脸上，

and one yellow light twinkling in front of us through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand.

在朦胧的夜色中，昏黄的灯光在我们的前方闪烁，引导我们去完成阴郁的使命。

There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for unrepaired breaches² gaped³ in the old park wall.

由于山墙年久失修，到处是残墙断垣，我们轻而易举地进入了庭院。

Making our way among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about to enter through the window

我们穿过树丛，又越过草坪，正待通过窗子进屋时，

when out from a clump⁴ of laurel bushes there darted⁵ what seemed to be a hideous⁶ and distorted child,

突然从一丛月桂树中，窜出了一个状若丑陋畸形的孩子的东西，

who threw itself upon the grass with writhing⁷ limbs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness.

它扭动着四肢纵身跳到草坪上，随即飞快地跑过草坪，消失在黑暗中。

"My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?"

"天哪！"我低低地叫了一声，"你看到了吗？"

Holmes was for the moment as startled as I.

此刻，福尔摩斯和我一样，也吓了一大跳。

His hand closed like a vise upon my wrist in his agitation⁸.

他在激动中用象老虎钳似的手攥住了我的手腕。

Then he broke into a low laugh and put his lips to my ear.

接着，他低声地笑了起来，把嘴唇凑到了我的耳朵上。

"It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon⁹."

"真是不错的一家子！"他低声地说，"这就是那只狒狒。"

1 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

2 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

3 gaped   

v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的过去式和过去分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• A huge chasm gaped before them. 他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. 前门不翼而飞，屋顶豁开了一个洞。 来自辞典例句

4 clump   

n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走

参考例句：

• A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。
• It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

5 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

7 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

8 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

9 baboon   

n.狒狒

参考例句：

• A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
• As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手，它就会被牢牢困住。